Over 3500 women faced violence in 2017: AIHRC

KABUL (Pajhwok): A recent report by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) shows that 3,778 incidents of violence against women took place in the last ten months of 2017.

The report shows no decline in the number of cases of violent incidents and point towards the existence of a culture of impunity in cases of brutality against women.

The AIHRC on Saturday disseminated details on the cases of violence against women,andrecorded 1,351 incidents of physical torture, 1,093 incidents of verbal incidents and 176 incidents of sexual violence.The remaining cases comprised of other types of tortures and violence against women.

Either the victims themselves or their relatives registered thecases at the IHRC regional offices.

According to the report, out ofthe 1,351 incidents of physical violence, 1,003 were cases of torture, 19 of immolation, 4 of limb loss, 54 incidents of injuries and 22 incidents of forces work.

AIHRC officials said that the number of cases of violent incidents registered at their regional offices resembled no significant change in comparison to the numbers of cases last year.

Addressing the reporters on the occasion of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, AIHRC Chief Sema Samar expressed her concern over the culture of impunity that exists in cases of violence against women.

She also saidthat 231 incidents of murders of women were registered separately from the above incidents,including 120 incidents of honour killing carried out by thevictim’s family members, including their fathers and husbands.

In 6 of the cases the women were executed either by armed militantsor on the orders of kangaroo courts. Some 105 cases of women murders were also attributed to unidentified armed men.

She added that over 50 of these alleged murderers were even arrested and their cases registered and referred to the Attorney General Office for investigation, but unfortunately most of them had managed to flee.

The AIHRC also released a separate report on violence and discrimination against women within the ranks of the security forces.

For the report, 651 women officials amongst the ranks of the security forces,including579 policewomen, 60 army women personnel and 12 women employees were interviewed regarding the violence and discrimination against women.

About 49 percent of the women officials interviewed complained against the non-existence of equal promotion opportunities, 65 percent complained against the lack of provision of equal rights, and 52 percent complained against a lack of due attention to the decision making process in matters related to their duties.

She said that “of the total interviewed women, 86 complained against the existence of somehow discrimination and harassment which included, touching, complimenting the physic, clothes and blinking.”